Craig Hupy, the city's public services administrator, and Abigail Elias, the city's chief assistant city attorney, discuss the city's footing drain disconnection program with members of the Citizens Advisory Committee for the Sanitary Sewer Wet Weather Evaluation Project on Thursday night. As committee members consider whether to recommend the city keep the program, they were advised to assume it is legal until a court of law says otherwise.

Various city officials, consultants and citizens working on the city's $1.2 million Sanitary Sewer Wet Weather Evaluation Project gathered Thursday night inside Slauson Middle School for a Citizens Advisory Committee meeting to discuss the issue.

Chief Assistant City Attorney Abigail Elias gave a report that addressed questions about the legality of the 13-year-old FDD program, telling citizens serving on the committee not to worry about legal threats that have surfaced.

In the event that a lawsuit does come forward against the city over the program, Elias said, the city would hold members of the committee harmless. The committee will be making recommendations whether the city should continue the program.

Ann Arbor attorney Irvin Mermelstein has said he's planning to bring a lawsuit against the city, and he hopes it will put an end to the program.

He's been building his case since 2012, talking with residents who claim they've been negatively impacted by the installation of sump pumps in their homes.

They've laid out their arguments against the program on a2underwater.com, claiming the sump pumps are causing home basements to flood.

One of the city's project consultants delivered a new report Thursday on the results of a recent survey that actually shows high levels of satisfaction among a majority of citizens who've had the FDD work done on their homes.

The surveys were sent to more than 2,300 residents who've gone through the program since it started in 2001, meaning they've had footing drains disconnected from their homes and sump pumps installed to divert stormwater flows away from the city's sanitary sewer system and instead to the stormwater drainage system.

Members of the public attended Thursday night's meeting and expressed concerns about the footing drain disconnect program.

The city launched the FDD program as a solution to widespread home sewage backup problems over a decade ago.

City officials argue the program helps prevent the sanitary sewer system from becoming overwhelmed during storms and prevents sewage backups.

But in heavy rains when some neighborhoods have flooded and the city's stormwater system has been overwhelmed, some residents have complained the sump pumps are ineffective and water ends up cycling back in and flooding their basements.

The City Council took action in September 2012 to temporarily suspend the FDD program in two areas on the city's southwest side after residents complained, though footing drain disconnects are continuing in other parts of the city.

Those people critical of the FDD program are actually a minority segment of the population, according to the new survey data from OHM Advisors, the city's consultant on the Sanitary Sewer Wet Weather Evaluation Project.

Among 819 residents who responded, nearly 70 percent said they were satisfied with their sump pump installation, while 22 percent were dissatisfied.

About 46 percent said they would recommend a sump pump installation to a neighbor, while 24 percent said they would not; 30 percent were neutral.

The survey identified 123 residents who said they experienced sewage backups before having FDD work done on their homes. Of those, 72 percent said they no longer have problems with sewage backups, while 28 percent said they still do.

The survey also identified 407 people who said they had problems with water flooding, seepage or dampness prior to FDD work. Of those, 168 — about 41 percent — said they're no longer having any of those problems.

The survey also looked at the experiences of 411 people who said they had no problems with water flooding, seepage or dampness prior to FDD work. Of those, 103 — about 25 percent — said they're now having problems.

OHM recommends following up with those people to learn more about the issues they've experienced since having sump pumps installed.

Survey respondents collectively reported incurring $460,170 in restoration costs for flooding, seepage and dampness issues after having FDD work done.

They also reported incurring $304,227 in restoration costs related to sewage backups, though it doesn't indicate whether it was before or after FDD work.

Craig Hupy, the city's public services administrator, said he's pleased with the survey results in some cases, though he's concerned about certain areas.

He said he's particularly concerned about the data showing 325 people — 40 percent of respondents — reported an increase in anxiety since having FDD work done, including fears that sump pumps could malfunction and concerns about lack of a backup system, having to replace sump pumps, water flooding from sump pump holes, noise from sump pumps, and loss in property value due to sump pumps.

He said that's something city officials need to look at carefully, along with the reasons why some residents are having water problems.

"To understand that, it's going to take an investment of time and effort," he said, adding his staff will be meeting to discuss those issues soon.

Some respondents indicated they're now afraid to leave their houses for extended periods of time, for fear that something could go wrong with their sump pump, while others are upset their basement design or style was disrupted.

The way the FDD program works, the city selectively chooses the neighborhoods where it wants to enforce the program and then gives homeowners notice of the steps they must take. Homeowners contract directly with a plumber for the disconnects and sump pumps, but payment for the work is covered by the city.

For homeowners who want to opt out of the program, there's a $100-a-month charge tacked onto their city water and sewer bill.

The city's ongoing Sanitary Sewer Wet Weather Evaluation Project involves measuring the impact of the FDD program on reducing stormwater flow to the sanitary sewer system, assessing the risk of sewage backups, and researching and evaluating new ways to control the impacts of stormwater on the sanitary sewer system.

The Citizens Advisory Committee has been meeting since August and is expected to help the city come up with final recommendations for City Council consideration by July, said City Engineer Nick Hutchinson, project manager.

"The next thing that OHM is doing is a risk analysis," he said. "Now that we've had multiple years of the FDD program, what is the risk of sanitary backups in people's basements now? So that's kind of the next step here."

After that, he said, they'll look at alternatives for going forward, including whether the city should continue the FDD program.

"This project was specifically set up to look back at the FDD program and say how did it do, and what do we do going forward," he said. "The flow results we've had so far, for the most part, have shown the positive effect it's had on removing flow from the sanitary sewer system, so it's done what we wanted it to do."

Some residents have raised concerns that the city, while it's paying for the sump pumps, isn't paying for backup batteries. City officials said Thursday night that's definitely something that merits additional discussion.

CAC member Frank Burdick, who doesn't support the FDD program as it's currently designed, said he wasn't happy with what he heard from city officials Thursday night and he's concerned the survey results show more than 100 people who never had water problems in their homes before but now do after getting sump pumps. He said he suspects the real number is even higher than that.

"Overall this doesn't pass the smell test," he said. "The city can't make you do something, then pay for it, put it in, and then back off all responsibility for it."

Elias said she remains confident in the city's justification for the FDD program, which is that it's in the interest of public health, safety and welfare.

"Michigan, as well as other states, have looked at footing drain disconnects as an appropriate means to comply with the federal Clean Water Act, so that we are not discharging raw sewage to the waters of the state," she said.

Responding to concerns that homeowners have experienced basement flooding after sump pumps were installed, Elias said that shouldn't be happening.

"If the sump system is working properly, it's going to work to prevent the sanitary sewer backups," she said. "If there's a problem with the sump and you're getting stormwater into the house, that at least is clean water. It's still wet, but it's not unsanitary the way the sanitary sewer would be if it was backing up."